Justice committee When Bill C-384 was debated between 2006 and 2008, that was the main thing pushed by members of Parliament at the time. It's certainly something that I would encourage this committee to consider. Women's shelters or women's buildings, or based on gender, is certainly something th

February 21st, 2017Committee meeting

Richard Marceau

Justice committee I'm a bit surprised by the question. Can I get back to you on this?
As of now, I think this would cover what I think is the main gap in the hate crime legislation. Let me get back to you on that.

February 21st, 2017Committee meeting

Richard Marceau

Justice committee Thank you, Ms. Sgro.
First of all, it's hard for me to believe that you started in elected politics 29 years ago. I very much appreciate your support for BillC-305 and the previous iterations of the bill. I am not in any way naive in thinking that we're going to stop hate crime

February 21st, 2017Committee meeting

Richard Marceau

Justice committee I'd be happy to.
My comment would be to say to people that, yes, houses of worship and cemeteries are important, but schools and community centres are also identifiable places for certain groups, and that touching those institutions would affect the community as much as a threat

February 21st, 2017Committee meeting

Richard Marceau

Justice committee Some police forces around the country—not all of them—have a hate crimes unit. Those units tend to be better informed and more aware of the tools that are included in the Criminal Code. Ottawa has one; B.C. has one; but not every police force across the country does. I would sugg

February 21st, 2017Committee meeting

Richard Marceau

Justice committee Proposed subsection 4.101 makes reference to section 4.1. It talks about being “motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on religion, race, colour”, etc. It's not every administrative building that would be caught in it. Here's the clearest example I can give you. Let's say the

February 21st, 2017Committee meeting

Richard Marceau

Justice committee I would agree with Michael's statement. It's both a deterrent and a strong signal. Let's not underestimate the power of statements by parliamentarians, of people here in this building voting and saying something. Those are very powerful and they reverberate throughout the country

Justice committee I actually think that police forces are doing amazing work in Canada. We saw it in Ottawa. When the JCC and the synagogues and the mosques were attacked, police reacted vigorously. We were very grateful to them. If somebody thinks that Bill C-305 is a panacea and will solve any p

February 21st, 2017Committee meeting

Richard Marceau

Justice committee Perhaps I might just complete the answer. Last Friday the perpetrator of the hate crimes in Ottawa pled guilty to the charges. His name cannot be mentioned because he was a month short of his 18th birthday, but he was prosecuted. The police and the crown attorney took it very ser

February 21st, 2017Committee meeting

Richard Marceau

Justice committee No. I actually like Michael's idea. It's one that I would seriously consider.
Otherwise, I am fine with the bill as is, with the caveat as I mentioned earlier: the LGBTQ buildings or community centres. Should they be in the same subsection with a subtitle of religious property,

February 21st, 2017Committee meeting

Richard Marceau

Justice committee Thank you, Mr. Cooper, for your question.
Many of the Jewish communities and institutions are not religious by nature. Usually, a Jewish community centre is not a place of worship. Sometimes some spaces are rented by a congregation for a little while, or for bigger events—for ex

February 21st, 2017Committee meeting

Richard Marceau

Justice committee Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank the committee members for inviting me. I'd also like to thank Chandra Arya, the member who brought forward Bill C-305, as well as all the members who supported it at second reading.
This legislation has been on the Jewish commun